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Sunday, January 28, 2018

This luscious, decadent cake is 100% whole grain, vegan and full of Chianti for good measure. A topping of melted chocolate and a sprinkle of chips just ups the ante.

Cake isn't just for kids, and certainly not just for birthdays! If the contents of our staff room are any indication, a simple weekday is permission to indulge a little. Of course, at the end of the day a drink and a slice of cake are occasionally in order... luckily there's a way to get both, whenever the mood strikes, without any risk of a hangover.

Like I mentioned when I made the cookies, red wine and dark chocolate are a great combination - even for people like me who detest vino in any (liquid) form. The richness of the cocoa is accented beautifully by the fruity notes of the wine, making a slice seem simply more decadent, rather than a one-note, "out of the box" flavour. While I appreciate that this is cake, and thus a "sometimes food", I also wanted to keep it slightly on the virtuous side - especially since cocoa andred wine are touted as health foods in some circles.

Applesauce is a common diet trick - certainly one mom and I utilized back in our Weight Watcher days - but it's pretty flavourless. Instead, I went with a flavoured applesauce, which doesn't seem like it would make that much of a difference. However, the strawberry in the applesauce plus the berries of the Chianti made the cake even better. I also utilized whole wheat pastry flour, which added a slightly nutty note without sacrificing texture. Of course, I couldn't serve a naked cake, so melted dark chocolate it was. A small slice was plenty to kill off any chocolate cravings, without any "winey" taste, and when covered with a cake dome it actually didn't stale in the fridge. I'm not sure if that's the wine talking, but either way I deem it a winner.